Talk:Nyota Uhura
Animated adventures I think the subtitle "Animated Adventures" should remain, to clearly separate that from the rest of the article, there not all Trek fans regard TAS as canon. Ottens 18:56, 24 Aug 2004 (CEST) :But MA does. Also, the heading breaks the POV of the article - since the animated episodes are just normal missions in the Trek POV. -- Michael Warren | ''Talk'' 19:36, Aug 24, 2004 (CEST) ::Beat me to it. A section title in the body of the article should not have a POV that it was a cartoon. Perhaps some other descriptive term specifying these were the "later" years of the same mission. Since its all part of the same cast, crew, and five year mission, I have a hard time find any need to make a serious distinction. -- Captain Mike K. Bartel 20:01, 24 Aug 2004 (CEST) Okay then. On a sidenote, what does POV mean? Ottens 23:12, 24 Aug 2004 (CEST) ::point of view. -- Captain Mike K. Bartel 23:24, 24 Aug 2004 (CEST) Commander rank According to a note at the bottom of the page (Recently added), Uhura was promoted to Commander in TWOK, but states the year 2285. I moved the note to Uhura's information from TWOK. Does anybody have confirmation on her promotion for either TWOK or The Search for Spock (If it's the later, it needs to be moved). -- Enzo Aquarius 21:03, 27 Apr 2005 (UTC) TAS Appearances I've removed the TAS references and placed them here because most of it appears to be copied from Sheryl's Star Trek Site: Star Trek Women. It's not word-for-word, but it is suspiciously similar. I've decided to move it here to avoid the complications of dealing with a . --Gvsualan 10:25, 6 Jun 2005 (UTC) :When under the influence of the women of Taurus II, the male crewmembers of the ''Enterprise were incapacitated by the siren's song. Lieutenant Uhura took command of the vessel, and assigned Nurse Chapel to acting Chief Medical Officer. They led a landing party down to the planet's surface to rescue Capt. Kirk, Mr. Spock, Dr. McCoy and Lt. Carver. ( ) :When the ''Enterprise visited the Shore Leave Planet, Uhura was abducted by the planet's computer, which was in charge of the planet after its Keeper had died. The computer felt that it was being taken advantage of, but Uhura reasoned with it, and ceased its hostile actions against the Enterprise crew. ( ) :When Uhura, along with the rest of the crew, contracted Dramian Auroral plague, she collapsed on the bridge from the effects of the disease. She would have died, if Dr. McCoy had not found a cure. ( ) :''In 2270, Sulu, McCoy and Uhura were trapped in the holographic recreation room, when the ship's computer began exhibiting aberrant behaviour following the ''Enterprise''s passage through an energy cloud. ( ) Later that year, the ''Enterprise entered an anti-matter universe. The crew experienced accelerated reverse aging, and Uhura was reduced to infancy. Following the vessel's return to normal space, Uhura and the other crewmembers were returned to their normal ages, by use of the transporter. ( ) Given name Considering, as noted at the bottom of the page, that both Gene Roddenberry and Nichelle Nichols both approved of it, should we put a full name of Nyota Uhura at the top of the page? Or is it still considered not canon enough for such treatment? We could do this without renaming the article, to avoid confusion. --Kitch 13:26, 14 Jun 2005 (UTC) : That sounds reasonable to me. Keep the article titles "Uhura", have the first line read "Nyota Uhura" and then italicize below it: ::"Although not mentioned on screen, Nyota was approved by Roddenberry and Nichols" :...or however it is written in the article. We have done such things with other individuals - basing thier full names from what was written in the script, but never spoken on screen. --Gvsualan 16:58, 14 Jun 2005 (UTC) I could swear I've heard it on screen: When Kirk asks Uhura to play back the probe's call in TVH, I'm pretty sure he calls her "Nyota." ::Two points: First, "Nyota" was never heard or seen on-screen, including , and never included in a script, writers' guide, or graphic. Second, if the name is to be added it will need to have a citation to some permitted resource that states her name is Nyota. Rumor or anecdotal evidence (including something Nichols wrote in a biography), without more, should not form the basis of inclusion of data in the main body of the article. It's fine for background, though (but should really have some kind of cite there too as to how we know this claim to have been made). If it is in the Star Trek Encyclopedia, though, that would be enough to include it (though noted as non-canon); maybe that's worth looking into. Aholland 04:38, 7 March 2006 (UTC) :::Aholland is correct; the name was never used on-screen. The first time I heard it, however, was not in Nichols' biography, but it William Shatner's Star Trek Memories, a documentary special. She recounted the story of how someone (I forgot who, I think it was one of the writers) suggested the name "Nyota" for her character. Nichols loved the name, and, according to Nichols, so did Gene Roddenberry. As Aholland said, this does not make the name official, but we can cite her biography and the documentary as a source when explaining the name in the background section. --From Andoria with Love 05:15, 7 March 2006 (UTC) ::::I've never quite understood how people hear the word "Nyota" in Kirk's line. What they hear as "Nyota" is "Can you" in the line which goes something like, "Can you play back the probe's transmissions?" Sir Rhosis 21:33, 7 March 2006 (UTC) I'll have to listen again. I remember reading a writer in "The Best of Trek" claiming that he invented "Nyota" and ran it past Nichols, who loved it. (He was responding to someone who claimed "Penda" huh? was the name.) I just listened. Kirk says, "en-yota, let's hear the probe's transmission." No request, so no "can you." He calls her "Uhura" a few seconds later. ::Perhaps Kirk was mumbling. The script identifies her only as "Uhura". The line in the closed captioning (not in the script) is "Can you let us hear the probe's transmission?". There is nothing on Nyota, and I believe any conclusion other than it is not used is unjustified. Aholland 04:49, 8 March 2006 (UTC) ::::Shatner was indeed mumbling, but if you listen closely, he does say "Can you" As I said before, I don't get why people insist on hearing what is not said. J! H! C! ENOUGH ALREADY! Sir Rhosis 22:19, 8 March 2006 (UTC) :::::Paramount's Startrek.com refers to her in the animated series character listings as Lieutenant Nyota Uhura. Does this qualify as canon? Hoogamagoo 15:55, 4 December 2007 (UTC) :::Not until it's mentioned in a film or TV episode, I'm afraid. --From Andoria with Love 16:00, 4 December 2007 (UTC) New movie The new movie states her name as Nyota can we site that or do we have to wait until December? Morder 15:18, 21 April 2008 (UTC) :Is it out yet? Nope. For all we know, that line may be cut from the film by the time it airs. -- Sulfur 15:23, 21 April 2008 (UTC) ::It's OK to site it, though. I don't know why anyone here would have a problem with that. Look. Somebody already did it. SennySix 20:56, 21 April 2008 (UTC) :::Again, no, it's not okay to cite it... not until the movie comes out. For one thing, we don't know for sure whether or not her first name will be revealed in the movie or even if it's in the script – that's just rumor and speculation at this point. By the way, we will have to wait until May 2009, not December. ;) --From Andoria with Love 06:59, 24 April 2008 (UTC) :::: Well, the IMDB mentions it in the cast and bio... don't know if IMDB is a good reference or not. -- 19:00, 21 October 2008 (UTC) :It's not. :) -- Sulfur 19:53, 21 October 2008 (UTC) ::: Don't we have no official reference for her prime universe name being 'Nyota'? Sure, it's in the new movie, but she was born after the change in the timeline. What do others think about this? --AnonyQ 11:15, 10 May 2009 (UTC) :::: I think that since no one else's name was changed in the new timeline, including Chekov who was now born in 2241 instead of 2245, it can be accepted that Uhura's first name in the prime timeline was Nyota as well. IndyK1ng 17:38, 10 May 2009 (UTC) :: While it's very likely that her name is Nyota in the prime universe, it is not certain. Anyone else agree it should be changed? --AnonyQ 10:53, 11 May 2009 (UTC) :::::This sub-discussion should be merged with the other discussion below. On-topic - yes, I agree that this is not "certain". Especially seeing that one of the characters is now 4 years younger than before, it doesn't seem unreasonable to assume that other, much more minor things (like a given name) at least might have changed as well. I brought this up in another discussion, where the argument was basically just brushed aside. Sometimes, "reasonable assumption" still seems to get in the way of being as accurate as possible. -- Cid Highwind 11:07, 11 May 2009 (UTC) talk:M'Umbra PLEASE see Memory Alpha talk:Canon policy before making further changes to this article and the notation of it being non-canon. It is NOT Memory-Alpha policy to delete non-canon articles just because they are non-canon. Aholland 06:25, 5 March 2006 (UTC) I have no conceptual issue with your change, but the term you are searching for is Restricted Validity Resource. (The higher value one is a "valid resource", which this material is not.) I'll make the change so it is technically correct. This will NOT, in and of itself, result in the article being deleted - in case you were still concerned. Aholland 06:47, 5 March 2006 (UTC) There is no term for "valid resource"; it has no meaning in the policy and is no more understandable to a layman than "Restricted Validity Resource". If we are going to use an explanation (unnecessary given policy, but it doesn't hurt), why not use words that track back so that people can actually see what is going on? The point isn't to confuse people even more. Aholland 06:57, 5 March 2006 (UTC) :Actually, I probably should have left the sarcasm out in this case, my apologies. My true reason for reverting it was to get you to bring up the change in wording at Template talk:NonCanonValid rather than delete the template from the article. --From Andoria with Love 07:00, 5 March 2006 (UTC) ::No problem. I took your advice and discussed it back there. (Although it took me a few minutes to find it - I'm not adept at template usage and such on a wiki!) Aholland 07:10, 5 March 2006 (UTC) Merge Under our current canon policy, restricted validity resources do not get their own articles. This should get a mention in the background of the Uhura article. --OuroborosCobra talk 18:26, 7 December 2006 (UTC) :I'm not getting the same impression from the canon policy page. Read under 'Restricted Validity Resources and Initial Article Creation.' Jaf 18:47, 7 December 2006 (UTC)Jaf Then why are we merging all the prototypes? --OuroborosCobra talk 18:53, 7 December 2006 (UTC) :I suspect it is because we don't really know what our policy is. There was a lawyer who showed up a while back and pointed out the fact that our pages contradicted our policy, he suggested we delete a bunch and everyone got mad at him, then he suggested we change our policy to match our pages and we got mad at him again. After a while he left and didn't come back. Then the issue just kind of went away. Jaf 19:10, 7 December 2006 (UTC)Jaf ::I support the merging of this with Uhura. We need to decide whether we allow information from only canon sources or from canon sources plus reference materials. We can't allow some articles from the latter and not have others. The decision has apparently already been made not to have individual pages based on information from reference materials; this would appear to count in that area. It also appears that, if that is the case, that our canon policy needs updating. --From Andoria with Love 20:12, 7 December 2006 (UTC) Swahili In Swahili uhura is nothing. Freedom is uhuru. You can look at the dictionary: http://www.yale.edu/swahili/ -- 13:28, 25 March 2006 (UTC) :The above is correct; "uhura" means nothing in Swahili. The article had the right information in the background section so I simply deleted it from the main body of the article. Aholland 03:39, 26 March 2006 (UTC) Unstereotypical? Was the role really that unstereotypical and breakthrough? She answered the phones! The role of communications officer clearly isn't enough of a job to occupy one full-time, and was later partially automated and partially given to tactical or the conn. -- 71.87.43.175 08:18, 1 March 2008 (UTC) :It was full time in a lot more than just TOS. --OuroborosCobra talk 15:12, 1 March 2008 (UTC) :In those days, having a black woman in that kind of position, with that kind of visibility, was extremely controversial. She sits right behind the Capt. so every time the camera focuses on him, you see her, too. Don't think the Great Bird didn't plan it that way. He knew exactly what he was doing. I lived through those times and I remember what I saw on the evening news. Today, we take a black person on TV portrayed as equal or in charge of something for granted, but not back then. The political climate at that time was searing. The Civil Rights movement was in full swing, and a lot of people were against it. They feared it was a Communist front; they feared an all-out black revolution. Gene had to fight almost as hard with the network to keep Uhura as he did to keep Spock. It's something like this; Forty years from now, some people might say that electing BHO wasn't that much of a breakthrough because we will probably have had more black Presidents by then and people will have become so used to black leaders. (The same holds true if HRC would have won.) But having seen what I saw in the 60s, I think it is not really overstating it to say that Nichelle Nicholes' presence on the bridge of the Enterprise contributed to ultimately getting BHO elected. --KTJ 23:21, 1 March 2009 (UTC) Legacy The section entitled Legacy makes some unsourced claims. It currently has these three items: *During the first year of the series, Nichols was tempted to leave the show as she felt her role lacked significance, but a conversation with Martin Luther King, Jr. changed her mind. King personally encouraged her to stay on the show, telling her that he was a big fan of the series and told her she "could not give up" as she was playing a vital role model for young black children and women across the country. After the first season, Uhura's role on the series was expanded beyond merely manning her console. *Former NASA astronaut Mae Jemison has cited Nichols' role of Uhura as her inspiration for wanting to become an astronaut. *Whoopi Goldberg has also spoken of Nichols' influence. It was seeing Nichols play a prominent role on network television that allowed her to see that African American women could contribute more than just as domestic servants. She is often fond of recalling that when she saw Uhura on-screen for the first time she ran out of the room telling everyone in her house, "I just saw a black woman on television; and she ain't no maid!!" I copied a source URL (a Stanford University news bulletin) from Jemison's Wikipedia article to cite the second point. The Whoopi Goldberg article on Wikipedia has this same information, but it states the Nichelle Nichols as its source. If she is the only source, maybe this should be reworded, because as it is now it makes it look like Whoopi goes around telling this story to everyone who'll listen. Hokstein 05:54, 12 April 2008 (UTC) :I put citation requests on the first and last points. The fact that Nichol's was an inspiration for Goldberg is easy to cite (I put the TNG companion down), but that exact anecdote unfortunately is not in the book. We can remove it if it doesn't get cited.– Cleanse 06:55, 12 April 2008 (UTC) :Okay, these claims were cited by User:DarkHorizon and User:Leandar. Thanks guys!– Cleanse 10:01, 12 April 2008 (UTC) ::Yes, much better. :) Hokstein 22:37, 12 April 2008 (UTC) Name I have asked this question on the alternate reality character's discussion page. Is the name 'Nyota' canon? I've seen it in books, but never heard it used in the mainline reality. Or was it used in ? – ''Crimsondawn''[[User Talk:Crimsondawn| hears you...]] 16:58, 10 May 2009 (UTC) :It was used in the new film, and the assumption is that since the name Nyota was used in non-canonical sources before being used in the film, it's reasonable to say that the original Uhura's first name was Nyota as well. It's a bit like Kirk's middle name being "Tiberius" — that was first used in the animated series, which for a long while Paramount said was non-canonical, but then "Tiberius" was used in Star Trek VI. :If you wanted to be really anal, you could say that there's no solid canonical evidence that "Uhura Prime"'s first name was Nyota, but it's a reasonable assumption. I don't have a problem with it. —Josiah Rowe 17:20, 10 May 2009 (UTC) Forget the assumptions. Long as it was used in the new film, it is canon. :)– ''Crimsondawn''[[User Talk:Crimsondawn| hears you...]] 17:25, 10 May 2009 (UTC) ::I suppose that depends on if Uhura is older or younger than Kirk. If she was born before Kirk her name is definitely Nyota because both timelines are the same before the Romulan ship appeared. If she is born after Kirk, then there is the odd chance that the temporal disturbance caused her parents to name her something different than Uhura prime. - Starfield 17:27, 10 May 2009 (UTC) :::This article says she was born in 2239, thus after Nero's incursion. In this case, I think she should be moved back to Uhura. [[User:QuiGonJinn|'QuiGonJinn']]Talk 17:31, 10 May 2009 (UTC) ::::As I state above in the discussion section on the new movie, since no one else's name has changed as a result of the incursion, including that of Chekov who is now born in 2241 as opposed to 2245, I think it is safe to assume Nyota was Uhura's first name in the prime timeline as well as in the alternate universe.IndyK1ng 17:40, 10 May 2009 (UTC) :::We must not assume anything. For Chekov, the reality alteration might have changed his birth year. For Uhura, it might have changed her name. [[User:QuiGonJinn|'QuiGonJinn']]Talk 18:18, 10 May 2009 (UTC) :::::I have to agree with QuiGonJinn. Imagine what would have hapened if the Kelvin was taken out sooner, we were very close to having to deal with a "Tiberius Kirk". My point being, while personalities might follow what TPTB have termed "same crew, different day", everything else is fair game to change, including, as pointed out, the huge anomaly of Chekov being born several years later. Not to troll, but from what I've read about this discussion and the one at ten forward, it almost seems to be some peoples judgement is clouded by the sheer coolness of finaly knowning the name. We've never called a ship the USS xxxx when it was just refered on screen as xxxx, we never postulated a non-mirror universe Admiral Black, we never took facts purely from novelisations, and I don't see why this is any different. It's a very simple rule: if it's not mentioned on-screen, it's not canon, no matter how many kb talk page is dedicated to "it is safe to assume" or "would definitely benefit from additional info" or "it's reasonable to say" or "has been her non-canon first name in novels for decades" etc etc. Sorry if I rant, but I seriously don't understand why in this particular case these kinds of arguments aren't shot down instantly like they usualy are -- Capricorn 15:46, 11 May 2009 (UTC) ::::::QuiGonJinn is correct as it is our policy to adhere to what was on screen. Only the alternate universe's Nyota name is canon and not the Prime Uhura's first name until stated in that universe. — Morder 15:57, 11 May 2009 (UTC) => I'm on the MA-fr and I agree with QuiGonJinn and Morder. Here we watch you everyday for your policy !!! Nice day C-IMZADI-4 16:23, 11 May 2009 (UTC) :::::::Gene Roddenberry, Nichelle Nichols, and many others have all stated they selected "Nyota" as Uhura's first name. Star Trek is just the first production to state it within canon. All of the other character's names are the same as their prime counterparts – James Tiberius Kirk, Leonard McCoy, Hikaru Sulu, Pavel Andreivich Chekov, Montgomery Scott, Christopher Pike, Amanda Grayson – so it stands to reason that Nyota is no different. Also, the writers have stated that these are the same characters (names and everything), only with somewhat different experiences. With the all the evidence showing the contrary, I believe there needs to be evidence that the prime timeline's Uhura was not named Uhura. And if all else fails, there's always this. :) --From Andoria with Love 18:29, 11 May 2009 (UTC) ::::::::There's already precedent with Hikaru Sulu (mirror) (just known as "Sulu"), and that timeline was *way* different. Same character, same name (unless proven otherwise, vis a vis Maximilian Forrest).--Tim Thomason 18:42, 11 May 2009 (UTC)